PEORIA — Purple spotlights illuminated a handful of local girls Sunday afternoon as they sang their hearts out during the Heart of Illinois Fair’s Rising Stars singing competition.

Inside the Exposition Gardens Opera House, away from the noises of the Heart of Illinois Fair, eight girls between the ages of 8 and 12 were competing for first prize: $250. But for kids that young, money wasn’t why they sang.

“I came last year and I like it. It’s a lot of fun to sing for a crowd,” Meg Ciko, 10, of Germantown Hills said after singing the Academy Award-winning song “Let It Go” from the movie “Frozen.”

“I’ve seen that movie five times — I guess I kind of liked it,” Ciko said. “I felt that the song showed off my voice well.”

Ciko finished in the top five of competing singers, who all had to sing an additional song after making the cut. That’s when Madison Edwards, 11, of Peoria Heights sang a song almost 20 years older than she is: Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” from 1984.

“Everyone in my family listens to the song a lot, so I started practicing it, and it actually sounded good,” Edwards said.

When Edwards took the stage, there was little evidence to suggest she was nervous. She stood still, took the microphone and belted out the ballad. “I’ve never really been a shy person,” Edwards said. “I feel comfortable up on the stage.”

Edwards took second place in the competition that Audrey Elward, 11, of Morton ended up winning. Elward walked up and down the stage, wagging her finger while she sang the Motown-inspired 2008 hit “Mercy” by Duffy, but planted her feet and stood firm for her closing number, “I Dreamed a Dream” from the Broadway musical “Les Miserables.”

“I just wanted to do two totally different songs. The first takes a louder voice, the second takes a more confident voice,” Elward said. “There’s some really big notes in the second song, and I really like the big notes.”

Friends and family enveloped Elward after she came off the stage, $250 check in hand. Asked what she would spend her money on, her friends made suggestions of ice cream. Elward was looking past the summer, though. “Maybe I’ll get a backpack. School’s coming back soon.”

Zach Berg can be reached at zberg@pjstar.com or 686-3257. Follow him on Twitter @ZacharyBerg.